That night, Willard called Krisna and told her the good news that he was in the starting lineup and would definitely be able to play tomorrow.
This is much better than just being on the squad, but sitting on the bench, with it completely unknown whether he can play or not.
Krisna screamed happily in the dormitory and quickly told Alyssa and Bertha the good news.
Alyssa and Bertha also shouted happily. Alyssa directly grabbed Krisna's phone and said to Willard: "Alan, this is your first start in your career, right? You have to You have to treat us, we will come to cheer you on tomorrow, and after the game you treat us to a big dinner to celebrate."
Willard smiled: "Okay!"
After hanging up the phone, Krisna and the others started preparing to rush to the stadium to watch the game the next day.
Alyssa and Bertha naturally wanted to go to the scene with Krisna to cheer for Willard. Krisna also invited Laurel Molly, but Molly didn't look down on Willard just because he got the starting spot. After all, the starting lineup was still in the second-tier league, so Laurel Molly excused herself from going there because she had something to do.
In fact, Krisna was just being polite. She, Alyssa, and Bertha had formed a small circle of three people, and they didn't like Molly. She wanted more than Molly not to participate in their actions.
The next day, at 16:00 on September 6, the sixth round of the 2014 Argentine Segunda División Play-offs saw the home match between Atlético Huracán and Atlético Tucumán officially begin.
Atlético Tucumán has not had a bye yet. They have played all the previous five rounds of the league and have a record of four wins, one draw and zero losses. They top the list with an unbeaten record and 13 points. They are also the only undefeated team in the Albanian League. They are quite strong. Strong.
In the first five rounds, except for the second round bye, the Hurricanes had one win, two draws and one loss in the other four rounds, ranking seventh with 5 points. The situation is a bit grim.
Therefore, head coach Mario Binko made a bold change and introduced newcomer Alan Willard, hoping to use Willard's stronger physical fitness and skills to stabilize the defense and allow the offensive players in the midfield and frontcourt to devote more energy to the offense. Go in and win.
The starting lineup of Atletico Hurricanes in this game is goalkeeper No. 1 Marcos Dias, three central defenders No. 4 Santiago Echeberria, No. 6 Eram Spe, No. 2 Mancinelli, and midfielder No. 33 No. Alan Velarde, left midfielder No. 31 Jimen Mandarino, double attacking midfielder No. 8 Lucas Villaruel, No. 10 Gonzano Martinez, right midfielder No. 18 Toranso, center No. 22 Alavi, and shadow forward No. 7 Espinosa.
Among them, No. 10 Gonzano Martinez in the double front midfielder holds the ball more and organizes attacks, while No. 8 Lucas Villaruel is responsible for assisting Martinez and losing the ball when Martinez Later, he is responsible for counterattack and defense, which is the role of the central midfielder. When defending, he retreats to the midfielder line and forms a double midfielder defense line with Velarde.
After the game started, the Hurricanes took advantage of their home court advantage to launch an offensive attack. With three rounds without a win, the Hurricanes have no retreat. They must win this game, so they must attack.
What's more, the Hurricanes' 352 formation is also offensive-oriented. Attack is everyone's strength. Even if they are facing the top team, Atletico Tucuman, everyone is not afraid.
The main reason was the 2-0 victory against Boca Juniors in the first game of the second half of the year, which made everyone feel confident that they had not lost yet, and there was still courage in their hearts: We can even win Boca Juniors, are we still afraid of the second division team?
This kind of mentality has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that you are confident, open-minded, and not afraid of strong enemies. The disadvantage lies in overestimating oneself and underestimating the enemy. In addition, the 3-0 victory in the first round of the league resulted in a loss of victory in the following three rounds.
Atlético Tucumán naturally knows the problem of the Hurricanes. After five rounds of undefeation, they will naturally not be afraid of the Hurricanes, but will fight against the Hurricanes at the Thomas Duke Stadium.
Although Atletico Tucumán cannot be said to be contemptuous of the main midfielder replaced by the Hurricanes, they do not pay much attention to it.
Because Velarde had only played for a short time in the Argentine Cup and the first round of the league. His performance was good, but he still did not reflect a high level. And immediately after being automatically suspended and additionally suspended by a red card, during the intervening window period, Velarde's improvement in strength was not known to outsiders. The players of Atletico Tucumán did not know that Velarde's defensive strength had reached The level of A-League stars far exceeds that of Federico Bismara.
Especially the awareness level of 80, which is definitely second to none in the level of the Albanian League. It cannot be said that no one is higher than him, but even if there are people with a higher level of awareness than him, I am afraid that their physique and defensive ability are much worse than him.
Therefore, with the help of Velarde's consciousness of 80, his physique of 79, and his defense of 75, even if he is alone, he can make it difficult for his opponents to overcome.
In the 5th minute, Atlético Tucumán intercepted the ball that Gonzano Martinez wanted to pass to Espinoza and launched a quick counterattack.
During the counterattack, Atlético Tucumán midfielder Graal received a pass from his teammate and faced Velarde's interception. He did not try to break through him. Instead, he aimed at his teammate and forward Menende diagonally in front of him before receiving the ball. Si's running position is ready to pass the ball directly without stopping, forming a wonderful pass assist.
As a result, Velarde saw through his intention. At the moment when Grahl was about to pass the ball, Velarde suddenly took a step across the passing route, and then made a decisive diagonal shovel, just in time to knock Grahl's ball off. The ball was passed diagonally to block the tackle and control the ball.
Graer was shocked and wanted to counterattack immediately, but Velarde, who was lying on the ground, did not give him a chance. He immediately stabbed the ball with his foot and passed it to the central defender not far away from the side. Eramspe.
The commentators all exclaimed:
"pretty!"
"Glaar's pass was seen through. Alan Velarde, who replaced Federico Bismara and made his first career start, saw through Graal's pass. Suddenly he made a cross-frame tackle and knocked off Graal. Er’s tackle was broken.”
Krisna, Alyssa, and Bertha in the stands also clapped and cheered happily, and cheered loudly.
They know that as a defensive player, Willard's successful tackle is a beautiful defense and will gain points in the eyes of the coaching staff, fans and media.
The game continues on the court.
Atletico Tucumán's attack was intercepted by Velarde, and then Atletico Hurricanes launched a counterattack.
Because this was a counterattack by Atletico Tucumán, Velarde suddenly tackled him and launched a counterattack. Therefore, in this attack, the center and backcourt players of Atletico Tucumán who were attacking forward did not return to defense in time and were blocked by the forward. Atletico Hurricanes, with six players involved in the attack, penetrated the defense, and Espinoza dribbled the ball into Atletico Tucumán's penalty area.
Atletico Tucumán defender Bruno Bianchi, who was desperately chasing behind Espinoza, reached out and pushed Espinosa in a desperate attempt to interfere with his dribbling or shooting.
Unexpectedly, Espinosa was also a man. He was about to shoot when he saw the goalkeeper waiting in front of the goal. He was not very sure. So when he felt his body being pushed from the side and back by his opponent, he immediately shot With an exaggerated exclamation, he lost his center of gravity and fell into the penalty area. He rolled several times and rolled directly out of the baseline.
"beep……"
The referee's sharp whistle sounded, and Bruno Bianchi was sentenced to a foul for pushing someone in the penalty area, and was punished with a yellow card + penalty kick by the referee.
Although Bruno Bianchi tried his best to defend himself, saying that it was just a normal push during the grab for the ball and that he did not use much force, Espinoza was suspected of diving.
But it may be that Espinoza's exaggerated screams and "painful" continuous rolling deceived the referee. The referee simply ignored Atletico Tucumán's appeal and firmly upheld the original decision.
All in all, Espinoza didn't do what some players do, when they see the referee awarding a yellow card + penalty kick to their opponent, they feel that their goal has been achieved, and then they turn over and get up.
Although this is fun, it will undoubtedly offend the referee and let the referee know that you are rubbing his IQ, which will cause the referee to judge you later.
Therefore, Espinoza lay on the ground for a while, then stood up with the help of his teammates, pretending that his feet were sprained when he fell to the ground, limped back to the outside of the penalty area, and waited. Take a penalty kick and fool the referee.
The penalty kick was taken by center No. 22 Alavi.
Alavi is a fierce man who is only 177cm tall but weighs 93kg, with an amazing physique. Although his shooting skills are average, his strength is great.
As the saying goes, strong force can produce miracles, such as taking a penalty kick. As long as Allawi kicks hard and the kick is within the goal frame, basically no one can defend it.
Sure enough, Allawi's penalty kick was normal this time. He did not miss the goal frame, but hit it inside the goal frame and hit a powerful volley. Atletico Tucumán's goalkeeper Lucchetti was a step too slow to save and failed. When you hit the ball, you can only watch it go into the net.
Only 5 minutes into the game, the Hurricanes scored their first goal through a penalty kick, leading 1-0 at home.
Hurricanes fans at the scene and in the stands burst into loud applause and cheers to celebrate the home team's goal and lead.
Among them, people like Krisna, Alyssa, and Bertha who care about Willard still remember that this penalty kick was originally caused by Willard stealing the ball in the backcourt and launching a counterattack, and they recognize his performance even more. .
The Hurricanes' celebration lasted almost half a minute before Atlético Tucumán kicked off a goal from the circle and the game continued.
After the game restarted, Atlético Tucumán, who was lagging behind, quickly launched a fierce attack, hoping to score a goal in the shortest time and equalize the score.
However, Alan Willard stood at the front of the Hurricanes penalty area.
Although he was the only one on the defensive midfielder, he firmly blocked Atletico Tucumán's attack in the middle, just like one man blocking the way and ten thousand men unable to open it.
The combination of Willard's consciousness, physique, defensive ability and mental age make him very stable in defense. He will not rush forward and let the opponent break through with his technical advantage. Instead, he usually uses his physical advantage to block the position and prevent the opponent from letting the opponent break through. Break through, or use teamwork to join forces with teammates to steal the ball, or force the opponent to pass the ball and delay the attack.
Velarde, who started for the first time in his career, performed like an insurmountable mountain, leaving Atletico Tucumán with no solution at all.
In just half an hour, Velarde contributed 3 frontal steals, forcing Atletico Tucumán to shift its offense to the wing.
But Willard can still try to resolve the opponent's rib attack or inverted triangle pass through timely defense and defensive positioning. For the rest, Atlético Tucumán can only pass the ball through the wing and let their center go to the penalty area to fight for the top.
As for the three center backs of Atletico Hurricanes, and the height of Velarde, it is difficult for Atletico Tucumán to grab the first point in the penalty area.
It wasn't until the 36th minute of the first half that Atlético Tucumán passed a cross from the wing, allowing their center Daya Garner to grab the first point and hit the goal with a header, scoring Atlético Tucumán's first goal of the first half. A threatening shot within the goal range.
However, Hurricanes goalkeeper Marcos Dias was also very focused. He jumped up and reached out his hand like a reflex, and successfully lifted the ball over the crossbar.
Atlético Tucumán wasted a great chance to score a header from close range in the penalty area.
At the subsequent corner kick, Atlético Tucumán failed to gain the first point and was saved by Hurricanes center back Eram Spei out of the penalty area.
